Match safe



15, 1962 R. A. STUBBERFIELD 3,058,580

MATCH SAFE Filed July 1, 1960 llllllllllllllll Fig: 4-.

Reuben HSfubberfield INVENTOR.

Ma/ 1&4

3,058,580 MATCH SAFE Reuben A. Stubberfield, Willits, Calif, assignor of onefourth to Earl H. Maize and one-fourth to Robert E. Harrah, both of Wiliits, Calif.

Filed July 1, 1960, Ser. No. 40,224 1 Claim. (Cl. 20633) Matches are commonly sold in so-called penny boxes so that they conveniently may be carried in the users pocket. They are wooden shafted and when used in the forest and in other areas where highly inflammable material exists, constitute fire hazard if lighted, partly burned and then thrown upon the ground. This is for the reason that the wooden shafts are dry and burn readily and for a substantial period of time.

The object of this invention is to provide a box which may constitute a convenient package, also a depository for the partially burned match ends.

Packages of matches of this character normally fill a container which becomes depleted as the matches are used. I have discovered that such a package or box may constitute a match safe for the burned ends by providing a loose bottom in the sliding tray and by perforating the bottom so that the partially burned match ends may be inserted endwise through apertures in the bottom of the tray between the loose bottom and the bottom of said tray. Said match box may then be returned to the pocket without danger of producing incipient forest fires and without danger of igniting the unburned matches in the box. The boxes are usually made of so-called cardpaper and in the abundance of caution said false bottoms may be impregnated with a material which inhibits flame propagation and promotes insulation so as to minimize the danger of igniting the remaining matches in the package.

The object of my invention is to provide a match box of this character which performs the dual function of a match container and a match safe Without increasing the size thereof and without adding substantially to its cost.

Further and other details of my invention, the mode of operation thereof and its advantages are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a match box, illustrated in open position, with portions of the matches shown broken away to disclose the details of the match box and the false bottom in the tray thereof;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of such match box taken on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, further illustrating how a partially burned match may be inserted endwise through an aperture in the floor of the tray portion of the match box so that it will lie between the false bottom and the floor;

FIG. 3 is a view of the bottom of said match box with the tray portion shown partially extended illustrating the manner in which said apertures are disposed in the fioor of the match box, the view being taken in the direction of the arrow 3, in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of a modification thereof in which a series of circular apertures defines an elongated restricted aperture for receiving partially burned matches.

A match box of a type embodying my invention comprises an open-ended cover 1, and a tray 2 slidably mounted therein. Said tray may be shoved endwise through the cover to extend it from either end thereof. When the cover and tray are in registry, that is, telescoped together, they define an elongated rectangular enclosed package. That is to say, the tray and the cover are substantially of equal length so that the tray may be received wholly within the cover. The tray comprises a bottom 3, side walls 4 and end walls 5. The end walls have inturned ends 5a that encompass enfolded tabs 4a of the side walls.

A rectangular false bottom 6 covers the floor of the tray and is substantially coextensive With said floor. As is shown in FIG. 2, said false bottom underlies the inturned ends of the end wall so as to hold the false bottom more or less snugly in face-to-face contact with the upper or exposed face of the tray bottom 3.

The false bottoms are made preferably of flexible material such, for example, as cardboard. It may be that it is desirable to give said false bottom fire retarding properties. In this case, said false bottom may be coated, impregnated or otherwise treated with some such material as sodium silicate or other comparable material such as ammonium phosphate, ammonium sulphate, borax, boric acid and zinc chloride. Such materials control the flaming characteristics of the material of which the mtach box is made as Well as the unlighted matches stored therein.

Immediately inwardly of the end walls 5 of the tray is arranged an elongated restricted aperture 7. An aperture may be arranged at one end of said tray, or at both ends thereof, as is shown in the drawings. The aperture preferably should have a width comparable to the diameter of the matches 8 stored in the box. Apertures arranged at both ends of the tray permit the tray to he slid in either direction to displace opposite ends from the cover and permit matches to be inserted from either side of the latter. By making said apertures elongated, matches may be stacked effectively in parallel relation ship substantially the entire effective width of the tray 2. That is to say, they may be inserted longitudinally in said tray and when successive matches are lodged beneath the false bottom they will slide laterally toward the edges of the tray as others are crowded in the center thereof and within the effective span of the apertures 7.

In FIG. 4 I show a modification of my invention in which the parts of the box including the cover and tray, are given the same reference characters as in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The elongated aperture in this modification comprises plural circular holes 9 separated by relatively thin webs 10. The provision of separate circular holes tends to guide the match more accurately into the space beneath the false bottom and the bottom of the tray so as to prevent crossing of said matches which would restrict the storage capacity for burned matches.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, inclusive the continuous elongated aperture permits more ready insertion of matches into said space, particularly if the floor of the tray is flexed slightly.

The apertures are preferably arranged as close as conveniently feasible to the ends of the tray so that the entire length thereof may be utilized for a match safe. As is shown in FIG. 2, a burned match 8a may be accommodated even though it has not been diminished substantially in over-all length because the unburned matches are slightly shorter in length than the over-all length of the tray.

I have described my invention in connection wtih a cardboard match box because this is its usual form. I intend this as an illustration rather than a definition because a match box embodying my invention may be entirely of plastic, metal or other materials if a more decorative or expensive box is desired.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

A match box comprising an encircling open-ended cover and a tray slide reciprocally mounted therein and in telescoping relation therewith, said slide and cover being substantially the same length so that when the parts are telescoped the slide is enveloped by the cover, and when the tray is extended it is uncovered to provide access to the interior thereof. said tray comprising a bottom, side and end walls, a false bottom loosely mounted in said tray and conforming in peripheral outline with said floor, said bottom having an elongated restricted aperture comparable to the diameter of a match formed therein adjacent one end Wall and spaced therefrom through which a partially burned match may be inserted endwise to lodge between said false bottom and the floor of the tray.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Leane July 24, 1923 McCloskey Feb. 10, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Sweden May 27, 1926 

